Thanks for Nothing, Mr. President

Are you a veteran? Or a victim of the Gulf Coast hurricanes?

If so, the Republicans have said, ‘Screw you!’

Here’s a little tidbit I missed, but Bob Geiger caught:

In case you missed it in the Senate yesterday, Daniel Akaka (D-HI) proposed a bill to increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2007 and Republicans shot it down with extreme prejudice.

The kiss of death for America’s Veterans was the fact that the additional funding was to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, which ensured that the GOP-dominated Senate would take care of its corporate donors before worrying about those who truly serve our nation.

The 46-54 vote was entirely down party lines, with all Democrats voting for the Veterans medical care funding and every Republican but Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) voting against it. (emphasis mine)

Add this to the list of ammunition the Republicans have handed the Democrats – and add it to the list of things the Dems fail to take advantage of.

And there’s this from the Associated Press:

The White House has rejected hurricane disaster-recovery loans at a higher rate than any other administration in the last 15 years, according to a congressional study by Democrats.

The report, expected to be released Wednesday, said business and home loan approval rates averaged about 60 percent after Hurricane Andrew devastated much of south Florida in 1992. The trend continued through the rest of President George H.W. Bush’s administration and into the Clinton administration, according to Democratic members of the House Small Business Committee.

After Hurricane Wilma surged ashore in south Florida last year, the approval rate for low-interest, taxpayer-guaranteed loans by the Small Business Administration had dropped to barely 15 percent. Overall, Democrats said, approval rates for home and business disaster loans since 2004 have averaged about 35 percent.

And this after the Minister of Propaganda WH press secretary, Scott McClellan, told us that His Royal Highness the King, er- El Commandante, ummm…the President is just doing everything he can to help those folks in “that part of the world.”

And apparently “‘everything he can’ on the Gulf Coast involves helping his buddy, Trent Lott, get that porch rebuilt and making sure oil and gas companies keep the heaping profits they made this year, while families are paying outrageous sums to heat their homes.